Ndebele
/əndəˈbeɪli/noun
A member of several closely related Southern African peoples or the languages associated with them, especially in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Did you know?“Ndebele” is an outsider name applied by Sotho-Tswana speakers to Nguni-speaking groups, while the communities themselves use names such as isiNdebele and amaNdebele.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu period
Proto-Bantu
*ba-ntu
“People; a reconstructed linguistic family connection, not the direct etymology of Ndebele”
Early modern period
Southern Bantu languages
Ndebele
“An ethnonym used for Nguni-speaking groups; the precise original sense is disputed”
18th–19th Century
Sotho-Tswana
Ndebele
“A name used by neighboring Sotho-Tswana peoples for groups identified as Nguni”
19th Century
Zulu/Nguni
amaNdebele
“The Ndebele people; ama- is a common Nguni plural/people-class prefix”
19th Century
English
Matabele/Ndebele
“English colonial-era forms referring especially to the Ndebele kingdom founded by Mzilikazi”
Modern English
English
Ndebele
“The people, their languages, or their cultural traditions in Zimbabwe and South Africa”